It's always fun to type in coordinates for imaginary missile strikes, and then watch as the neat-o flyby zoom effect gives you a bird's eye view of the trajectory.
*madly laughing, rubbing hands methodically, crouching in corner*
posted 12 years ago
by sugarmilktea

Can anyone report on how the pictures look for non-touristy areas? Especially outside the US? I'm loathe to download that Keyhole app... did that a couple of years ago and it consumed memory at such a rate that I had to restore control by shutting off the computer. Hope it's better.
posted 12 years ago
by rolypolyman

I had a professional version earlier this year, and was rather disappointed with the coverage outside of U.S. areas. Seemed like every spot I wanted to check out had the dreaded "imagery not available" stamped across it. Although, still quite a cool app worth checking out. Surely it performs better than it did two years ago.
posted 12 years ago
by sugarmilktea

Reminds me of Snow Crash. I'll gladly pay for it when I can get the most up to the minute updates from all the satellites.
posted 12 years ago
by chimaera

Does this mean cops are going to stop harassing people taking pictures of sensitive sites?
I just tried it out, it was really cool. Recommended. Thanks, Koant!
posted 12 years ago
by Paranoia Agent

I last used Keyhole 1 year ago and there were *way* more hi-res photos than there are now.
Seriously, WTF - why can I get better looking images of Baghdad vs. Milwaukee??
posted 12 years ago
by buck09

Looks pretty cool. googlemaps had already been updated earlier in the month to include non-US and Canada at very good resolution for a large number of places. (For example, my husband put together a sightseeing page (yes, that's a pseudo-self-link). This seems to have more options though, like tilting and rotation, and possibly better street maps? Just using google maps worldwide doesn't have country/street maps and so going sightseeing is a lot of experimentation and having an atlas open to try to decide exactly where along the Nile Giza is, for example.
posted 12 years ago
by livii

I last used Keyhole 1 year ago and there were *way* more hi-res photos than there are now.
Seriously, WTF - why can I get better looking images of Baghdad vs. Milwaukee??
posted 12 years ago
by buck09

why can I get better looking images of Baghdad vs. Milwaukee??
I think that one needs no explaining.
posted 12 years ago
by sugarmilktea

Is the imagery better than google maps's?
Also, if you knew the names of the imaging satellites, you might be able to figure out when they were taking your picture here. So you could be sure not to blink, I mean.
How long before realtime digitized (and automated) surviellance of the entire world is possible? At least it might be hard to identify people from the tops of their heads.
posted 12 years ago
by stripe

I downloaded Nasa's WorldView about a month ago. Those freaking Nasa scientists. I still can't figure out how it works. *sigh*
posted 12 years ago
by ball point head

Google maps fails to include most of Hawai'i. It only has a small part of Waikiki and a smalller part of Honolulu. Google maps has close ups of rocks in the frickin' desert, yet excludes most the population and land mass of a US state.
After they expand their coverage to outside the US, maybe they could expand their coverage to the US. Does GoogleEarth include Hawai'i? I doubt it.
posted 12 years ago
by Mr. Knickerbocker

I'm sure they'd cover those additional areas if you ask them. Oh, and give them some money too.
posted 12 years ago
by techsmith

How much do they need? Maybe I can skip eating out tomorrow night.
posted 12 years ago
by rolypolyman

hmmmm...so many complaints about the ABSOLUTELY FREE miracle of visualization...
1) the increased coverage of the usa is probably higher due to the higher number of web users there...
2) they are probably still loading in the higher rez images...the earth is BIG, remember?
3) satellites pass over different parts of the earth with a wide variety of different schedules (most earth imaging satellites fly at high inclinations...which means they fly across or near the poles as opposed to flying over the equator...so that as the earth turns beneath it, it traces out a track on the surface very similar to the windings of a ball of string) it can take anywhere from days to YEARS for a satellite to pass over an area 2 miles from where it just took a picture.
4) some satellites fly so that the area below is always at the same time of day...say 10am or 12 noon. and some don't.
(this can make some images unusable)
5) some satellites are higher than others or are in elliptical orbits that take them higher above the earth at times, lowering the resolution...
6) access to recent satellite imagery is undoubtly draconian and/or expensive (and, hello, there's a war on...)
7) Google could give a rat's ass about you county mice who live in podunk. Move to the city and you too can see the tree in your front yard...
so you see...the coverage itself is quite patchy...but, hey, you try taking photos from outer fucking space of 196,940,400 square miles (~509,600,000 square kilometers) with your logitech webcam and see how well you do....
posted 12 years ago
by sexyrobot

Sexyrobot, you're just upset because they cut off your head and blurred your friends outta the picture. Oh, and sorry about the powerlines looking like they're running up your rump.
posted 12 years ago
by BlueHorse

I'm not upset with google...(although others appear to be...it's amazing to me, modern man's capacity for complaint, truly it is)
oh...and the powerlines are running up my rump.
posted 12 years ago
by sexyrobot

...you county mice who live in podunk. Move to the city...
sexyrobot, I'm talking about the city. One that is larger than Miami. The island has 800,000 people. The majority of all cities here are left off Google Maps.
They have close ups of desertrocks, and you can't get much more podunk than here. Yet half a million city dwellers in a US state are left off. No, they aren't getting around to us, they've moved on. They're done with the US.
But hey, it's free! Who cares that it can't perform! I could pretend I live in a smaller city where it does work! That's almost the same.
I do think your implication that Hawai'i is a warzone is pretty funny. Where do you live? 1941?
posted 12 years ago
by Mr. Knickerbocker

interesting, but it did not let me download it. is it limited by invite only, like gmail was? i want it, darn it.
posted 12 years ago
by sMhyla

What is this NASA WorldView thing? And how would I even find out which satellite is capable of viewing Louisville, KY, let alone use it to set up a missile strike on my house?
posted 12 years ago
by Big Davey

Mr. Knickerbocker, that Google thing is way outdated: it doesn't show the new UofL baseball stadium, for one thing.
posted 12 years ago
by Big Davey

Oh, and going Google's photos, one couldn't use their coordinates for calling in an air strike on my sister's house -- it'd hit her next-door neighbors' instead. Thus Google is not a very reliable targeting resource. Who's got a decent security clearance?
[Note to Homeland Security: look up the word "joke". (And yes, fellow Monkeys, I have looked up "paranoia".)]
posted 12 years ago
by Big Davey

Link goes to LGF
WTF? Feel like changing your user name again jerry?
posted 12 years ago
by Argh

Also, if you knew the names of the imaging satellites, you might be able to figure out when they were taking your picture here. So you could be sure not to blink, I mean.
Stripe:
I did my calculations, and stood outside with my pants hanging, but I never did see the moon.
Or should I have done that on Google Universe?
posted 10 years ago
by BlueHorse